Blog Post

For those that are unfamiliar with the terminology, a high school gap year is a year spent between the final year of high school and the first year of college where the student spends a year travelling, sightseeing, soaking up culture and immersing themselves in a strange place. It is termed a gap year, but it can be any period of time, as little as a semester or as long as a year or two.

A lot of kids, fresh out of high school, are feeling tired of being in school and many are bored with learning in the classroom. They may balk at the idea of heading straight off to college. Taking a gap year will allow for a much needed break from school, and might renew their desire to attend college and return to school to continue their education.

A gap year can allow a student the kind of adventure that they will need to grow as a person and become more confident in their abilities to begin living on their own. The world is theirs and will be limited only by their desires. This type of experience is inspiring for most teenagers and encourages them to become more curious and push themselves a bit harder to achieve their future goals.

A gap year will also help the student decide what he or she really wants to do with their life. It will give them the opportunity to explore the things that they really want to do, or think they want to do, and allow them the opportunity to make a decision before their parents spend a ton of money on tuition. It will also teach some self-reliance and give them some nice work experience to pad a resume with in the future. With the life experience and marketable skills that can be gained, they are likely to improve job prospects with the employers in their chosen field. It will give the student the type of experience that will help make them stand out in the crowd among the other job applicants that did not take a year off and explore.

Finally, one of the biggest reasons to consider taking a gap year is that now may be the perfect time. When the student is older and has more responsibilities, the chances of being able to get away and work odd jobs while traveling will be nearly impossible.

Alex writes on various other topics including student loans without cosigner support and low interest student loans.